


Next of Kin 2: Situation Unknown

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Firefly
Genre: Academy, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-23
Updated: 2007-04-02
Packaged: 2017-10-06 22:59:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An innocuous-looking letter sparks a world of noise and the beginning of a journey into the unknown.</p><p>Sequel to "Next Of Kin."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Situation Unknown

Serenity touched down on Beylix smoothly. The crew drove out to Hunting Darren's on their mule, luggage strapped down in the back. It was three days before Caro's bridal shower, and the menfolk were planning on hunting. River was excited, grinning from ear to ear. She had a secret, a momentous kind of secret, but not one that Vera would approve of. Jayne knew, of course, but thought it was something best to speak of in person, not over a wave. He thought they were too impersonal, even if boosters could simulate face to face contact.

The mule pulled up in front of the Cobb homestead. It hadn't changed in the past three months, and it was its usual comforting presence in front of the barnyard and cornfields.

Mal led the way, followed by Inara, Zoe and the two couples. He knocked on the front door, which was soon after opened by a young black girl with golden eyes. "Vera's expecting all of you," she said, standing aside to let them in. "There's going to be a party."

"Sounds like fun," Mal replied. The girl had seemed to expect a reply, and she nodded when she got it. The girl didn't seem to be graceful or witchy at all, making Mal wonder what she had been trained to be, if anything. But he kept his thoughts to himself and followed her into the house with a grin plastered to his face.

Everything was as they remembered it, which was comforting. The house smelled like food, and everything was neat as a pin. Vera was in the backyard, weeding her garden. She was pleased to see them all stop by through the kitchen door. "Oh! Isn't it wonderful to have all of you here again? Family all under one roof."

Mal and Zoe were most disconcerted by that. Inara seemed unruffled by it. But it made sense, even if the soldiers weren't entire comfortable with the term. Family wasn't always related by blood. Sometimes the ties were stronger.

"The girls should be just about done with chores," Vera continued. "Why don't you go on and settle in? We can catch up over dinner. River sent us such a wonderful letter..." Simon cringed here, and River beamed. "Still, I do enjoy good stories told up over a good roast."

Jayne blinked. "Roast? You've been doin' that good lately?"

"Well, sure. The girls started tutoring out in the Hunter place. The kids here all chip in, so we didn't have to hire out. Between that and a good harvest, I've got to say it's been a good year." Vera grinned at her son. "You should come home more often, Jayne. I do believe you're a good luck charm."

Most of the Serenity crew were stunned to silence. River grinned at her husband's surprise. "I certainly think so," she said.

Vera nearly twinkled in joy. "Wonderful. I'll see everyone at dinner."

Dinner was an understated affair. The roast was tasty, the soup was hearty and the wine was heady. Stories were shared and it was indeed a wonderful evening.

River pulled Viola aside just after dinner. "I have a letter for your consideration. We will be here for some time. I would ask you to read this letter in its entirety, and then we shall discuss its contents. I would not wish for you to be prejudiced in any way prior to our discussion."

Stunned, Viola accepted the letter and tucked it away into her pocket. "I'll read it tonight."

"Yes, please," River murmured. She smiled at Viola and wandered back into the main gathering.

Later that evening, Viola sat up in her bed and looked up at the envelope. Her full name was on it, written in a neat copperplate script. It was heavy, holding many sheets of paper. Viola couldn't tell what it was just by looking at it.

Many sheets tumbled out of the envelope as she ripped it open. _Dear Viola Rose Cobb Hunter,_ the letter began. _I am pleased to invite you to join us at the new Academy for Advanced Learning._

Viola dropped the letter in shock. That place? It was destroyed. It was the place where the kids were tortured and cut apart to become something other than the children they had been when they started. River knew this. She had been one of those children herself. How could she possibly want Viola to consider it?

Viola's eyes fell to the bottom of the lengthy letter. It was signed Corrine Felis. She didn't recognize the name, but the teens in the Hunter House had all agreed that the prior director was a man that most referred to as Father or Uncle. Corrine was most definitely _not_ a man.

_Welcome to the new Academy!_ the brochure stated in large letters. Cautiously, as if the page itself could harm her, Viola reached for the letter again. This time, she would read the entire thing before dismissing it.

River had asked her nicely, and River would never let her get hurt. She had to know what she was talking about.

Viola was intrigued in spite of herself. She began to read.

***

"Oh, no. Absolutely not. I forbid it!"

Viola stared at her twin in shock. Of all people, she had thought Victoria would understand. They had the same blue eyes and blonde hair, the same frame that reminded the older generation of Christina Cobb. But Victoria was the brave one, the athletic one, the forward one. Viola was more studious, and her taste of adventure at the former Academy had shown her that she didn't enjoy being part of a hero's tale. She sometimes still had nightmares of those events. While Victoria still had nightmares, she stopped talking about them long ago. Viola sometimes talked with the other girls about them, but there was always an invisible line that no one crossed. No one discussed the Specialists or the lost children. No one discussed the fear in the tunnels, where they wandered in the dark with a single flashlight.

Viola was sick of silence and half sick of shadows. She was tired of being afraid all the time, and she knew she would have to face the fear of the Academy. It was different now, and Viola knew that River wouldn't have given her the envelope if she thought it was dangerous.

River trusted her judgment, but Victoria didn't.

Viola looked at her twin critically. Victoria was afraid; there were very few times Victoria had ever been afraid, and the Academy can inspire a lot of fear. Viola knew that fear was preventing her from understanding the opportunity, just as it had initially had for her.

"You can't forbid it," Viola said calmly, not moving from the kitchen table.

"The hell I can't," Victoria yelled. "You're being stupid! Why in God's name would you want to go back to that hell hole?"

Viola pushed the brochure forward. "Read this, Vicky. It's different now."

"And you're a _gorram_ idiot to believe the _le se_ in that."

Lips pressed tight with anger, Viola stood up. She held onto the back of her chair with a white knuckled grip. She looked Victoria in the eye and took a deep breath to keep herself from shaking with her anger. "Of everyone here... You should have understood. But you're more like Jonas Hunter than you know."

Victoria watched her twin leave in shock. For a moment, she had thought Viola would have struck her. Being told she was like their murderous uncle was much worse.

Victoria fled to her bedroom, leaving the brochure behind. It was all too much to bear.

***

There was a knock on Viola's bedroom door late that afternoon. "Go away!" she yelled.

"It's Kara," the girl called out after an awkward pause. She sounded almost embarrassed.

"Oh," Viola said, surprised. She got up from her bed and opened the door. "You can come in."

"Fighting with Vicky?" Kara asked. "You've been doing that a lot," she added when Viola didn't answer. "Even at Gramma's."

"She doesn't listen," Viola replied, shrugging. She sat on her bed cross-legged and pulled a pillow to her chest. "It's nothing new. What's going on?"

Kara's short dark hair had grown out a bit in the time since the assault on the Academy. She tucked it behind her ears, then wordlessly handed over the brochure that she had found on the kitchen table. "River said you wanted to talk."

Viola knew better than to protest that remark because of the distance between the Cobb and Hunter homes. River had ways of knowing all sorts of things, so any mention of her name wiped away all confusion.

"Ever get the feeling like you're road kill?" Viola murmured. "Ever feel like you got hit by a mule and you're left curled up by the side of the road like some forgotten thing?"

Kara's face almost seemed to freeze. "Yeah."

"Well, that's how I've been feeling lately. And Vicky doesn't help. She yells at me like she'll wear me down to the bone to get rid of my nightmares." She looked down as she sighed, missing Kara's startled face. "I don't like it."

"You got nightmares, too?" Kara asked, sinking to sit down on the bed next to Viola.

Viola nodded. "Not every night anymore."

"I still see the blood," Kara murmured, holding out her hands. "In my nightmares, he always gets back up to get me. Or Ma and Pa are there, rotting to pieces and asking me why I failed to get revenge for them."

"I need to leave here sometime," Viola murmured, "and I don't think Vicky wants to hear it."

"So this is it, huh? Your way out?" Kara asked, holding up the brochure. "This is your way to not be Vicky?"

"I'm not her, even if I look like it. And I don't know what I want to do. I don't know what I want to be. But this school... You got no idea how much I had got yelled at for studying. But I'm good at that. And if I qualify for the scholarship, why should I be ashamed of that? Why do I got to hold back just 'cause she don't like reading?"

Kara picked up the brochure. "It ain't just readin' stuff. There's a security division here. So, like, if I wanted to train more in my bow or gun... If I wanted to fight like River does... And if they got job placement..."

"Exactly! I need help to figure this out, not being yelled at. It sounds like they fixed it up to be what it was supposed to be."

Kara put the brochure back down on the bed. "I'll go with you."

"But you didn't get a letter..."

"So I gotta earn a spot. I'm used to that. I didn't get nothing for free."

"Gramma won't let you go."

"She ain't my Ma, just like Vicky ain't your Ma." Kara got up. "We should talk to River 'bout this idea. She probably knows more 'bout what will be going on."

Viola got up. "I'm ready now."

Kara nodded. "C'mon, road kill. My mule's parked outside. Don't get hit."

Viola suddenly grinned. "I can keep up. Just watch."

***

"I'm going with you," Ethan interrupted.

River, Kara and Viola were seated at the kitchen table, discussing the Academy. They turned to him in surprise. He hadn't been part of the conversation, but had been sitting nearby, listening.

"I can't ask that of you," Kara blurted.

Ethan grinned at her, teeth flashing bright against his dark skin. "I know. You aren't asking, are you?" Kara flushed and looked away. "I'm volunteering. I want to go. I never got to go to the classes I signed up for. I got locked away for years. I _want_ to learn stuff. That's why I went in the first place, but it wasn't what I thought it was. If Corrine did it, if she turned the Academy back to what it was supposed to be, I want to be there."

"It's what we all want," Viola said, looking at River.

"I leave the decision up to you," River said. "She seemed sincere when I spoke with her, and it did seem as though this novel direction has been attained. But it's not my place to sway any of you. I'm just here to guide you to a decision."

"I want to go," Viola said stubbornly.

"I'm going," Kara said.

"I'm there," Ethan added.

River smiled. "The others are too afraid to even contemplate the possibility of change. Fear is too chaotic and potent a weapon. That you three are able to surmount your fears speaks much of you. You can believe in yourself and you can perform by logic as well as emotion. It will help you in your endeavors."

"So will we get in?" Kara asked, worried. "She can pay if she don't win a scholarship, but I don't got money for a fancy school."

River nodded. "If we can't make arrangements, I will pay it. I shall fund both, if necessary," she said, looking at Kara and Ethan. "But I believe we may be able to broker and acceptable agreement with regards to tuition."

Kara ignored the sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. That was nerves, she knew. She had never been responsible for anything important before, and now she would have to earn her way, exactly as she had always had to do. She could do this. She was used to working hard, and she wasn't afraid of it.

Ethan touched the back of her hand, startling her out of her reverie. "You're still sitting here."

River and Viola had left a few minutes before to speak to Vera. Kara flashed Ethan a wan smile and rubbed the back of her neck. It was a gesture that her father had always done when he was embarrassed about something. "Nervous, I guess."

He sat down next to her. "You don't have to go."

"I want to," Kara said, voice soft. "I do. I don't want you to feel like you gotta come with me."

"You're not asking me," Ethan replied earnestly. "I want to be there. For me, true. But I want to be there for you, too."

"I can't... We're not anything."

"I know. And we might not ever be. But this is something that I want to do. I want to be there. Not because you asked me, or that there's something between us. I want to be there for you because I want to be there for you. There's nothing else to it. I'm going with you because I want to go, not because you asked me to." Ethan leaned over and kissed Kara's forehead before she could protest. "My choice, Kara. It's always been my choice. I'm waiting for you because I want to. And if you never want me, that's okay, too."

Kara looked down, embarrassed. "But I didn't... I ain't nobody special."

He briefly touched her cheek, then stood. "You are to me."

Kara continued to sit there after he left, still very confused.

***

Once the uproar died down, there was the party to consider. The twins weren't speaking to each other, and sat at opposite sides of the room during Caro's bridal shower. Kara and River sat by Viola, and Victoria sat near the other girls rescued from the ruined Academy.

_Traitors,_ they said with their eyes. _You'll ruin us all and die._

Viola and Kara held their heads up high, and Victoria was the first to look away.

When it was time for Serenity to leave Beylix, Viola, Kara and Ethan were packed and ready to go. They would be in the passenger bunks, and River paid the way generously.

"Don't go," Victoria whispered as Viola bid the others goodbye. Victoria looked down, and couldn't meet Viola's eyes.

"I'm going, Vicky."

"Vi, what will you do there? Why there?"

"I'll learn more there than I could here on my own."

"But what? Killing folk? You'll let them turn you into a mindless killer?"

"I'd never go if that was the case," Viola snapped.

"What will I do without you?" Victoria whispered.

Viola softened and really looked at Victoria for the first time in days. They had always been the Hunter twins. How do you define a twin without the mirror image?

"You'll be you," Viola said softly. She held her sister tightly. "We get to grow up now. We get to find out who we are, instead of being the part the other isn't. Now we get to be people by ourselves. I'm not Vicky Hunter's shy twin anymore. I'm not your baby sister. I get to find out what I can do."

Victoria squeezed her tight. "I don't want to lose you, Vi."

"You won't," Viola assured her. "I'll wave. I'll write. We'll keep touch. I ain't leaving 'cause I hate you. I'm leave 'cause I wanna learn more. I want to be more than your shadow."

Victoria sniffled and stepped back. "You be safe, Vi. Don't come home in pieces."

Viola watched her twin run off in tears, amazed.

Not sure what to say, Viola met Kara and Ethan, then boarded Serenity.

Something was happening there, and not one of the three teens knew what was going on. Viola was sure that they would figure it out. The three of them were capable enough to think anything through. She figured this was all a case of nerves, of worry before greeting the unknown. They could figure it out. They were strong enough.

The future was a bright, bold place, and they were going to do well.


	2. New Beginnings

In her worst nightmares, River was still at the Academy. The Hands of Blue stalked the halls. The whispers in the walls were wolves, scavenger lands, areas of doom threatening to swallow her whole. The beds carried ghouls, flesh-eating monsters who thought spinal cords were tasty delicacies. Needles and pins, formulae and formal training. Simon would never come, the salt of her tears would dry her up and leave the riverbed dry. And then it would all begin again, time and time again, Hands of Blue observing everything.

And then River woke up.

She was curled around Jayne, clutching him tightly in her terror. Sometimes he woke, sometimes he didn't. Tonight was one of those nights when he didn't.

River extracted herself and went up to the kitchen. She made herself jasmine tea, and sat at the table with the steaming mug. In the first two or three weeks after her return to Serenity, she had made many changes to Jayne's bunk. They both lived there now, and it was a tight space. But her creative energies were put to the task, and she made extensive changes to the bunk.

The bed was larger now, encompassing the area Jayne had turned into an armory. With some protest, Jayne finally let her experiment with an arms locker build into a drop ceiling with a pulldown door that had his best girls attached. Underneath the bed was more storage. There were three short drawers built into the long side of the bed and one long drawer that ran the length of the bed and slid out to reveal yet another part of Jayne's armory. River added a second armoire for her belongings and hung up a few of her sketches. Jayne ultimately had to admit that she had managed to keep his armory safe while making the bunk more elegant and spacious than it had been before.

He had been initially twitchy about River moving into the bunk. She had beat him there, of course, and he had found her taking down his pinups as carefully as he had put them up.

"Er... um..."

"This was from a prior time," she had said, voice even and emotionless. "Now that you have me, you've no need for such things."

Jayne rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Well... um... I, uh... I still wanted to keep those, Riv."

She looked at him with large eyes and a blank expression. "Oh?"

"Well, see... They all got stories."

"Stories?"

He nodded and pointed to the pinup in her hands. "That's Betty Ann. She got a gun in that holster on her leg..." Jayne moved to the gun rack and pulled out one that matched the gun in the photo. "This here's my Betty Ann. I got 'er in a card game at Whitefall. Fresh outta Beylix, first job in the black..." He held out Betty Ann for River to hold. "My first gun. She got me through that barfight and my first job." He grinned at River almost gleefully. "They never woulda guessed it was my first job."

She smiled at him in return. "They all carry such stories, don't they?"

"Oh, yeah," he agreed, an easy smile on his face.

She had taken down every pinup reverently, and placed them in the lining of the overhead gun rack. They were in a safe place, and would be given the respect they deserved. It was a great compromise, one Jayne was sure would be the first of many.

Right now, River's compromise was to spend time in the kitchen or bridge when she couldn't sleep. There was no need to have Jayne stay up with her, and he definitely got cranky when he didn't sleep through the night.

To River's surprise, Viola stumbled into the kitchen, a robe wrapped tightly around her and her glasses slightly askew on her nose.

"Oh. I didn't know anyone else was up," she said somewhat lamely. "Um..."

"Would you like tea?" River asked calmly.

Relieved, Viola nodded. She let River pour her tea, and grasped the cup in her hands. "I couldn't sleep," Viola admitted.

"It is difficult to do so in the wake of trauma. Is that your issue at this time?" Viola looked down into the teacup. "If so," River continued mildly, "you would hardly be the only one."

Viola looked up abruptly. "Even you?"

"Everyone. No one is immune, least of all myself."

"But you... You're strong. You took them down..."

"At great cost to myself," River reminded her gently. "Not in a physical sense, no. But as a Reader, I felt it. Afterward, I realized how faulty my behavior had been, how flawed. That is also fairly crushing. I had been raised better than that."

"They made you crazy," Viola murmured.

"They loosed my hold on reality," River corrected. "The grasp is gone, depth grew deeper, and there came to be the onset of paranatural hearing and understanding." River sipped her tea, now cooler. "Perhaps this would have occurred _sans_ their intervention. Perhaps I would have been much different. I Read, not Tell. My mother was the Teller, and she was never quite so cruel as to divulge the truth in the matter. Once upon a time, I was like this without medications. I knew and understood physical reality alone. But then my parameters changed. Now I stand on loose, shifting ground, and my hold is tenuous."

"You seem like you're ready to teach a class."

River finished her tea. "It's hard to think, sometimes. It's hard to function. It's better, but it's not perfect. This medication works better now, and I don't need so many cocktails."

"Couldn't your brother give you something for sleep?" Viola asked.

"Of course. But then I'd lose the dreams, and even the nightmares are worth keeping."

"Why?"

"It reminds me. It keeps me from forgetting. I take my meds. I do my job. I read my books. The nightmares make sure I never forget."

"Well, I want to forget," Viola whispered. "I can't forget the bodies, the blood... The smell of it. That's the worst part. I wake up and it's like I'm back there, like I'm coated with it. I wake up and I think I'm covered in blood, even if I didn't kill anybody."

"And Kara?"

_She_ had killed someone, Viola remembered suddenly. By knife and bow, blood everywhere and mottled finger-shaped bruises about her neck. That Specialist had nearly killed Kara, but she turned the tables and killed him instead.

"Yeah," Viola replied softly.

"She will need you most of all," River said.

"She doesn't need me. Nobody needs me."

River looked at her sadly. "Oh, no, Vi. Everyone needs you very much. They need your love, your understanding and your help. You're not alone in this, none of us are."

"Well, I got the personality of a boot and get noticed when something goes wrong. Nobody wants me around. Book learning wasn't much of anything. Vicky said so."

"She's your sister. You can't simply take her word for it. I call my brother a selfish boob. But he risked his life and reputation for me. He delayed his own happiness to ensure my future. He's the least selfish member of my family. Yet I still call him names. I can't help it, I'm his sister. He treats me like a child and seeks to medicate me."

"But you need meds," Viola pointed out.

River smiled at her wryly. "It's complicated."

Viola sighed. "Why can't anything go easy?"

"Because then we value nothing. We value what is earned, what is bought, what is dear. If it is given easily, it is bought cheaply. We do not hold anything that is not valuable."

"But why do we gotta work so _hard_ sometimes? Can't anything go easy, just once? Just to give us a break? Too much stress can break a body, you know? It gets hard to think."

"We are not given more than we are meant to handle," River murmured. "My mother told me so often as a child." She smiled at Viola's expression. "After my experience at the Academy, I no longer consider myself a child. They took that from me."

"Can't you start over? Like we are?"

"I've gotten my new beginning," River replied with a smile. "I have no shadow to follow me. I have new family." River went to the stove and poured herself more tea. "I have what I need. I know this now."

Viola nodded thoughtfully. "Can I have more tea?"

"Of course," River said, pouring it. Viola sipped at it carefully. "It will end well, you know. All things are changing."

_Especially me,_ Viola thought.

"When you finish, go to sleep," River said softly. "There's time enough to think on it later."

"You're not afraid of anything, are you?"

"Not true," River disagreed. She finished her tea and put the cup in the sink. "But it does not own me, it does not rule me, it does not control me. You can't tell yourself not to fear. But you can tell yourself to act, to move, to do what needs to be done."

Viola finished her tea. "Thanks for talking to me."

River smiled, a beautiful, haunting smile. It spoke of endless wells of pain that she had already surmounted. "Sometimes you'll miss the past," she said, answering Viola's unspoken question. "But you can't live there, so you can't dwell. You have to learn to live for now."

"How do you do that?"

Her grin was genuine and playful now. "I'm still learning. I'll tell you when I find out."

***

Ferdinand had her by the throat, eyes gleaming and teeth glinting in the light. "You know, you're just like me," he hissed. His eyes crinkled with laughter. "You can't escape me," he said, voice like a caress. He leaned in and licked the side of her face. "I can taste your fear. I like it." His lips stretched wide in a rictus grin, and he laughed in the face of her terror. "Oh yes, I like it very much. You're mine, and you always will be."

Kara awoke screaming, face down in her pillow.

After a startling, terrifying minute, Kara raised her head from the pillow. No one had come running, thank goodness. But still, her heart pounded in her chest and it was hard to breathe.

There was a tentative knock at her door. _Gorram_ it, she hadn't been quiet enough.

It was Ethan. She should have expected that, though somehow she didn't. Kara looked at him with hollow eyes and a drawn expression. She didn't know what to say, how to explain why she was screaming with anything other than the truth. She wasn't willing to admit that just yet, not to anyone. Well, other than Viola, who was having nightmares of her own. No one else seemed to understand what was going on in the back of her head, not even her.

Wordlessly, he pulled her into a tight embrace. Kara stood there stiffly, arms at her sides, mouth falling open. She blinked, trying to make sense of what just happened.

Ethan pressed dry lips to the side her neck. "I'm here, Kara. You're not alone."

She remained stiff as a board, unable to force herself to soften and accept his embrace. She was having trouble breathing, though that didn't make any kind of sense to her.

He rubbed her back in circles, the way mothers did with colicky babies. He kept repeating that he was there for her, that he wanted to be there for her, he cared. He _cared._

Kara didn't know when it started, but the tears finally came. He pulled her even tighter against him, his head tucked into the curve of her neck. She didn't have to see him or talk to him. She didn't have to do a damn thing. Almost against her will, her arms came up from her sides and wound awkwardly around Ethan. "I can't stop," she whispered brokenly into his shoulder. "If I really start crying, I can't stop."

"Just cry, baby. I got you. I'm not letting go. You cry as much as you need to."

"I can't... Only weak girls cry..."

"Who told you that _le se?"_ Ethan asked, anger lacing his voice. He didn't stop stroking her back, didn't break his hold.

"Pa," Kara whispered. "I had to be strong after Mama died. It was just the three of us, and we all had to be strong. Only weak girls cry, not strong ones like Mama."

"You believe it?"

"I always have," Kara sobbed. "But now it's all I wanna do, and I'm just scared spitless. I can't... I don't know how to be like this."

"There's no right way to be upset, Kara," Ethan whispered. He stroked her hair gently, then pulled back enough so that he could see her face. "Some people cry. Some people scream. Sometimes they pull in on themselves and hide it until they break apart into pieces. You do what feels right. And if it's crying all damn day, you do it. I'll tell them to back off and give you peace. That's what you need right now."

"Why?" she asked, voice breaking. _Why are you so nice to me? Why do you care?_

Ethan traced the curve of her cheek with his fingertips. "You're beautiful, Kara. You got a will of iron inside, and you've got the strength of ten of us. But inside, you still need taking care of, too. You need someone to care, someone that can stand up beside you. When you gotta fly free, he's got to be able to trust that you'll come back, that you'll want to be back home again. And when you are, he's gotta trust that it'll work. It won't be easy on anybody."

"Why you?" she whispered, blinking tears out of her eyes. She sniffled like a child.

His fingertips moved to cover her lips. "I wanna be him. I want to be the one you come home to. I want to see you flying high, shooting down the stars if you want to. I want to be the one you snuggle up to, the one you tell your dreams to. And I want to be able to tell you. You know what I've always wanted? What I originally went to the Academy for?" Kara shook her head, eyes wide. She wasn't sure what to say. "I wanted officer training. If I came home an officer, I could take care of my family. I could build a family I could take care of. It's not gonna happen, and my family's gone now. But I want you to be my family." He smiled at her and then kissed her forehead. "But no pressure. Not unless you want it, too."

"I don't know what I want."

"It's okay. We've all got time to figure that out. And I want to wait for you."

Kara watched him walk away in confusion. The tears had stopped, and she wiped at her face. She closed her eyes as she shut the door to her room. She was a tangled jumble inside, and she didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know anything anymore. Her simple little world had been ripped to shreds, and she didn't know how to rebuild it. Nobody seemed to really need her, and she was just floating loose. Ethan was interested, but she didn't know how to deal with that, either. He was another slice of confusion in her life, another thing to be unsure about.

She curled up on the bed, eyes sliding shut. Tears began again, slower this time. _I don't know what to do anymore. How can I be the strong one if I don't know what the hell's goin' on? How can I take care of everybody else if I need it, too?_

Tomorrow was another day to figure that out.

***

Kara was a wraith standing at the edge of the cargo bay, watching Zoe check on the stock they were bringing in to the Core. Her eyes were large hollow things, following Zoe's every move. She could recognize the warrior in the woman, the edge of wariness in her step.

"You gonna watch me all day?" Zoe challenged.

"Don't got nothing better to do," Kara muttered.

"That was you screaming holy hell last night?"

Kara flushed, and that was answer enough. "I'll keep quiet next time."

"Sometimes it doesn't work that way," Zoe muttered. She lowered her clipboard and walked over to Kara. She vaguely remembered the girl, covered in blood and with eyes flashing fire. Three months of nightmares might beat down a body, though.

"It hasn't stopped yet. I'll just try to keep quiet."

Zoe pursed her lips. "Have the nightmares ever stopped?"

"Not really." Kara looked away for a moment, then looked back at Zoe. "Is there a way to make it stop? Is there a way to get used to it?"

Zoe thought of her own nightmares, the quiet way she tried to deal with them. "You move on, is all. You do what you have to do, you remember what you have to. Sometimes the job is all you've got left to do."

Kara leaned against the stair railing, her posture one of defeat. "I don't got a job to keep me going. Whatever I used to do stopped. I stopped being useful."

"That's why you wanted to go to this school so bad?"

"Well, yeah. Nobody needed me to hunt or shoot or nothing. It's all I ever really knew what to do, 'cause I never was real good at school. I went, but it didn't make much sense. And if Horace or Pa couldn't get dinner..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked at the floor. "Well, that doesn't matter anymore, anyway."

"It gets better," Zoe said softly. She had heard River and Kaylee talking earlier about the girls' losses. _They need a sense of themselves, else they'll be lost in the shadows of those that they love,_ River had said. Kaylee had been nodding, crocheting something that resembled a holey doily. _I did this,_ River had continued. _My need to be safe had touched on their lives, and this is the least that I can do to pay them back._

"How?"

"You start letting go," Zoe murmured. "Because you know they wouldn't have wanted you to carry on so, and because it just hurts less. Distance helps with that part."

Kara looked up. "I don't want to forget."

"You don't have to. You have time to remember them proper. But you still need to make enough time to take care of yourself, else you'll be up screaming away every night."

Kara bit her lip nervously. "It's harder being a girl, isn't it? Guys are supposed to let it all roll off like nothing happened."

Zoe shook her head sadly. "If anything, that's exactly what makes it harder for them. Women can go to each other and talk it out sometimes. The menfolk don't think they can, so they suffer with it deep inside. They don't know how to talk, anyway."

"When do you know you're okay? I mean, really okay."

"Sometimes you don't. Sometimes it catches you by surprise, when you realize you can breathe again, that it doesn't hurt to think so hard. And some days are better than others. Some days you feel almost normal, and other days nothing works. But that's life, kid. It doesn't stop because you're in pain, and it won't let up just because you can't hack it."

The girl nodded slowly, and pushed her hair behind her ear. "Are you sorry?"

Zoe blinked at Kara's unexpected question. "For what? For helping you?"

"For having whatever it is that you lost? Are you ever sorry you had to lose it?"

Wash's smile flashed through Zoe's mind, and her expression softened. She almost smiled at the girl in front of her. "No. It's hard sometimes, but no. Every last second of our time was precious, and I don't regret a single one."

Kara's shoulders seemed to loosen a bit. "I got stuff to think on, then, don't I?"

"Don't think too hard," Zoe said softly, touching the girl's shoulder. "Leave the heavy thinking to River or the other one. They seem the type, don't they?" Kara nodded. "Well, sometimes the not-thinking is the only way to make it through the day."

Kara thought of the farm work she had helped out with. She had resisted moving to the Hunter house precisely because she could lose herself in the heavy work at the Cobb homestead better than with anything the Hunter twins had to offer. "I get it."

"All right, then." Zoe watched Kara run up the stairs and head to the kitchen above. She looked around the cargo bay, for a moment thinking of the games the crew used to play in the empty space. Wash had enjoyed the basketball games, even if his aim had been atrocious. Those had been better days, before the government's secrets tried to swallow them all whole.

"All right, then," she repeated to the empty space.

***

Viola watched Ethan deal himself a game of solitaire. "You're pretty determined."

"Huh," Ethan murmured, not bothering to pretend he didn't know what Viola was talking about. Most of the former Academy students thought he was stupid for doting on Kara when she was too hardheaded and artless for someone like him. They all thought he should have paid more attention to the Hunter girls.

"You think it would work out between you two?"

He shrugged, turning over one of the cards. "Hard to say. I wasn't one of the psychic ones."

Viola sighed. "I'm not being mean," she said after a moment. "She's real nice, most of the time. I just don't know if she can be what you want."

"I just want her to be herself," Ethan replied stubbornly.

"How can she be that if she's still figuring it out?" Viola asked. "I don't want you to get so lost in it that you lose yourself, too."

Oddly touched, Ethan looked up. "You put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

Viola shrugged. "I got to wondering a lot about a lot of things. It's easier to worry on everyone else sometimes, you know? I was wondering what would happen with Quinn and Abby, Sasha and Thomas, Chris and Mark and the rest of them. I figure most of them will figure themselves out. But Kara's never had to before. Nobody's ever had to before."

"I think we'll be all right," Ethan replied. He looked back at the card game he had dealt. "I don't think on it much. Life goes easier that way." He looked up at Viola again, his expression bland and empty. "It happens without you doing anything to it, anyway."

"Life should be lived. If you let it float on by, that's just a waste."

"Aren't you a philosopher?" Ethan asked, eyebrows raised. "Going into political theory?"

She flushed slightly and rose. "No. I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe astrogation, but it really doesn't matter. But if we're all in this thing together, I don't want you to back out and regret it while we're there."

"I won't."

Viola let out a breath and shook her head slightly. "I'll see you later."

Ethan looked back on his solitaire layout. He freed an ace. "Yeah. See ya, Vi."

He remembered a time when he had been excited to go to the Academy. His family had been so proud of him, and he was the first one to be invited to such a prestigious program. He had won a full scholarship, and he was determined to do a good job. But one after another, the directors and teachers had failed him. He wasn't as gifted as he thought he was, and he wasn't as important as he thought he was. By now, Ethan had made peace with that.

Ethan didn't want much anymore. Now, he just wanted another chance to realize his full potential. He wanted to be important to someone, to have a purpose in life beyond living to the next day. It didn't seem like too much to ask for.

Stuck in the game, Ethan gathered up the cards and shuffled them. It was a long ride to the Academy, and the wait was tying his nerves into knots.

***  
***


	3. Walking To The Door

"Bad memories?"

River was startled, and looked up at Jayne as he came into the cockpit. He sat in the copilot's chair, careful not to touch any of the controls. She hadn't heard him approach; she had been too involved in her own thoughts, chewing on the inside of her lip. "Maybe," she admitted finally. "I remember my first journey here. The second... Well, I was otherwise occupied."

Jayne laughed. "Yeah, well, Mal'll have a fit if we sully the cockpit." He gave her a suggestive leer. "But it _is_ called a cockpit..."

River laughed, and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes were wide and startled. "Jayne! That is not appropriate! Even I know that!"

He turned slightly in the chair, and grasped her hand. He gave her a gentle tug, and she obligingly came over to sit on his lap. Jayne held her, curled all around him, his hand on her hip. The other hand played with the fingers of her right hand. "You'll be okay, you know," he said after a long moment. "I gotcha."

She smiled, a seductive curve of her lip. "I know. You are my ground when there is but sky. I still carry a _frisson_ of fear. Even with you, I slipped last time. I started falling into the mold they made for me, the heartless killer. It was difficult to separate the different selves I carry with me, the thoughts and memories and secrets they sought to give me. Sometimes it's still difficult, and I worry about it."

"Don't."

"Easy for you to say. You carry a single life with you."

"So do you, unless you got something to tell me?" Jayne squinted at her, but her hair had fallen over her face. He couldn't tell by her eyes if there was something else there.

"Not yet," River murmured. "If I am capable of procreation, it hasn't happened yet."

"Well, so you got a single life, too."

"Jayne," River began patiently, "I hear everything everyone says and what they do not say. I see their memories and thoughts as clearly as I see you. I feel their hopes, as though it slides beneath my skin to become part of me. Some days it's better to separate them from me, and being in the black helps. Other days, it's difficult. I don't know where I end or you begin. I hear Kaylee in my ears when she's in the engine room. Or I feel Zoe's grief in my heart like it's mine. And now, I feel Viola and Kara and Ethan as well. They worry, they fear, they suffer. I made this happen. It's my fault they hurt like this."

Jayne raised his hand and pushed her hair away from her face. There were tears there, and she sniffled like a child. He caressed her face gently. "It ain't your fault, _bao bei._ It ain't nobody's fault. Things happen, you know that. Life don't sit still for nobody, and 'specially not for roaming folk like us. The Alliance ain't never was gonna let you go if they could get you back all secret-like. You know it ain't you, it's them. It ain't your guilt you gotta carry." Jayne brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it in a gallant manner. "I believe in you, you know. I know you can hold onto what's real."

"I know logically the fault is not my own. But I _feel_ responsible. I _feel_ as though they suffer for my freedom. My mother is dead, my father solitary and grieving. While I had no particular affection for them, I did not wish that fate upon them."

"They didn't deserve you," Jayne said patiently, caressing her hand gently. "They weren't any kind of real kin. But 's'okay, I got lots for you to take on as your own."

She smiled, sniffling a little. "I know. Your mother would adopt the entire 'verse if she could."

"She's that kinda woman. Best in the 'verse. 'S why I named my best gun after her."

"Would you name one after me?" River asked after a moment.

"Well, sure. I gotta find the perfect one, though." River pulled back slightly, a questioning look on her face. "It's gotta be something shiny, right? Sleek and simple looking, but with a nasty kind of kick to it, surprising everybody. Probably something little, that you'd strap to your pretty naked thigh," Jayne added, moving to caress the said thigh. "Yeah. I think that'd be the perfect River kind of gun. But maybe you'd be better as a knife, sharp and capable of more than you'd think if you knew how to use it right."

Her smile was somewhat sad. "I'm still a weapon."

"Only if you think you are," Jayne replied softly. "Only if you let them win."

"Sometimes I'm scared that they have already."

Jayne traced the curve of her cheek with a finger, then the swell of her lips. "No. They didn't win, and they ain't never gonna. Weapons don't got hearts and kin and whatnot. Weapons don't feel anything. Weapons just get used and thrown away when broke. They don't got brothers ready to run in and fight if they got to."

River smiled and nipped Jayne's finger. "I think that might be one of the nicest things you've said about Simon."

"Huh. Don't tell him."

River giggled. "I won't. He's still fairly sick from when I was telling him why I was so tired before we left Beylix."

Jayne snorted and adjusted her on his lap. "Now, you gone and woke up Junior."

Her giggles continued. "Did I now?"

"Well, yeah. You do that all the time. Here I was, giving my wife some muchly deserved comfort, and there you go, waking him up. Now he'll be an insufferable thing all day. You got to do something about it," Jayne added, giving her a playful pout.

River reached between them and gave him a gentle stroke. "Perhaps I should."

Jayne made a happy rumbling noise, his arms settling protectively around her. "You're okay, Riv. You know that, right? I mean, really _know_ it."

"I think I do, deep down," she murmured, continuing her stroking. "It doesn't stop me from getting scared sometimes."

"Well, that's why you got me," Jayne replied, pulling her head down for a kiss.

There were approaching footsteps. _"Mei mei..."_ Simon began. He made a disgusted sound when he reached the cockpit door. "Oh, for crying out loud! You've got a bunk!" He threw the cockpit door shut and retreated back the way he came.

River and Jayne looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

***

Viola wore her best dress, the one that needed a ruffled petticoat beneath it. She remembered wearing it for church at a distant Hunter cousin's wedding in Voltaire. She had forgotten the wrist length gloves, though. She had the matching purse, but felt like some ruffled concoction that didn't feel like her at all. She looked at herself in the mirror critically. Somehow, Victoria had pulled off the same dress with much more flair. How could two girls that were mirror images of each other be so different?

"Nah. Too frilly," Kara said from the doorway, grinning. She was in denim and a plaid shirt, and looked more like a boy. Only her longer hair marked her as a girl.

"I wanted to look nice," Viola replied, hurt.

Kara strode into the room and pulled at the puffed cap sleeves. "I seen this in a store once, you know. I don't think it looks right on you, though. Makes you look like a frill triangle."

"What?"

"The skirt's too big. It's nonsensical. How can you run in it?"

Viola flushed. "We shouldn't have to run."

"But if you did. Now how are you gonna do that with such a poofy skirt? It would just get in the way. I think you gotta get rid of some layers. Maybe those silly sleeves, too. They make your shoulders look as big as mine."

Viola looked at Kara critically. "How'd you learn this stuff?"

"I dunno. I only know you look terrible in it. Like the ruffles will swallow you up. C'mon. There's a Companion on this ship! It's their job to look pretty. Might as well as ask her how to fix up this dress to look right on you."

Viola let herself be pulled out of her room and toward the Companion's shuttle. Ethan had been in the common area of the passenger dorm, and had managed to stifle his laughter, but only just. Viola sent him a nasty look, but wasn't able to say anything.

Inara looked at the two teens in front of her when she opened her shuttle door. "What a lovely surprise," she said, smiling. "Come in. Would you like tea? I was just brewing some."

"Please," Viola said gratefully. "Um... Kara thought maybe you could help me fix this dress so it looks right. I don't... I was never very good at that sort of thing."

"I think the skirt's too poofy," Kara supplied helpfully, when Inara seemed to be contemplating Viola's dress. "And the shoulders, too."

"I think I can help both of you."

"What?" Kara said, startled. "I didn't come in for me. I'm fine like this."

"Oh, we can do better," Inara said with a twinkle in her eye. "It will be a fun afternoon. And when we arrive at the Academy tomorrow, you'll both look lovely."

Kara crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "This better not be something I can't run in, like her dress thing. I don't got any of those silly things."

"I don't have any," Inara corrected, tone mild. She poured tea into three cups. She handed one cup to each teen. "There's no difficulty in making you look your best," she told Viola. "Beautiful isn't always inconvenient," she added to Kara. "Beauty is changeable, after all. It's grace and elegance that really make the difference. It's knowing you're worth the attention that you're going to receive. It's being confident enough to realize you're priceless."

"Huh. And here I thought it was money to buy the right makeup," Kara muttered.

Inara smiled and sipped her tea. "That helps, but it isn't necessary."

By the end of the afternoon, Viola's dress had been completely transformed. The cap sleeves were gone, and most of the ruffles were removed. The petticoat was taken out, and the skirt of the dress was hemmed in slightly. What remained was a sky blue dress that had a tight bodice and a flared A-line skirt. She looked less like a girl playing dress up and more like a girl about to graduate from school. Inara had insisted on tailoring one of her dresses so that it would fit Kara. "Everyone needs one good party dress," Inara had said by way of explanation.

Kara absolutely refused to wear anything silk. "I'd be like to rip it! No way."

Inara found a dress in the back of her closet, a simple cotton with a complicated weave. It was a darker red, with a pattern of black threads woven into it. Hemming it and taking in the top made it a better fit for Kara. "There we are. Now you both have one elegant party dress. Every school has a dance, you know."

Viola's face fell. "Then I don't have something appropriate for the first day. We should impress them, shouldn't we? We should walk in like we own it."

Inara smiled. "Your attitude tells others that you're confident, not the clothes you wear. You can wear one of my best dresses but still appear to be a timid shadow of a girl. You both will be just fine, I know it."

"How? How can you know it?"

"If you were able to help destroy an oppressive place, then you will be more than able to walk back into it now that it's free." Inara clasped both of their hands into hers. "Don't you see? You helped to create the school that it's going to be. You helped to make it. Maybe you didn't lay the literal foundations, but you helped make the spiritual foundation. It's a real school again, and if not for your efforts, it might still be a prison."

"We did get the other students out," Viola murmured, looking at Kara.

"That's what I'm talking about." Inara smiled at both of them generously. "You have such heart, you know. It will be such an asset to you both."

Kara looked at Inara, mouth pursed slightly. "Dunno 'bout heart. But I can shoot straight."

Inara smiled. "I'm sure you'll develop all kinds of other talents there."

Kara looked at Viola suddenly. "D'you think they got dance classes? 'Cause other than a good ol' square dance, I can't dance worth a lick."

"Oh! I can teach you a waltz and some good dances for faster songs! I had to take all of those classes. It's one of the few things I was good at that didn't come from a book."

Inara watched them race out of her shuttle, dresses bundled up in their arms. She smiled after them wistfully. Youth bounced back so fast, and continually tried to be so hopeful. She looked around her shuttle, ripped blue ruffles and thread everywhere. She gathered them up, glad that she still had some kind of worth on the edge of space. She was still trying to find her own way, and was glad that the girls were getting that chance.

***

They touched down in Landing Area Three, guided in by the proper clearance codes. River led the way out of the ship and into the Academy. Somehow it felt right to her. She was walking in, head held high and steps sure. She had Jayne at her side, and he would throw a grenade into the middle of it all if it would keep her safe from harm.

"It's... smaller than I remembered," Viola whispered uncertainly. She looked at Ethan and Kara, biting her lip. "Are we sure that this is the right place?"

Ethan looked at her, his expression one of anxiety. He felt almost nauseous, and hadn't expected that. He could remember his other first day here with sick nostalgia. He had arrived with such lofty hopes, and they had been so cruelly dashed. He thought of the scars on his arms, thick like ropes. "Do you think this is still a good idea?"

"Only if we stick together," Kara said with more bravery than she felt. She gave Ethan and Viola a sunny smile, even though her stomach was queasy and riotous. She was just barely able to choke down a slice of toast that morning, and had been grateful that Jayne hadn't called her on it at breakfast time.

A woman with long dark hair and catlike eyes entered the landing area. She didn't have any guards with her, but the hairs on the back of Kara's neck rose. Somehow, Kara didn't think that the woman needed any guards.

"Ah. River Cobb. Lovely to see you again," she said, her voice low and musical. She smiled sweetly at River and then turned to Jayne. "Still protective, I see," she remarked, inclining her head slightly. Her smile was soft and sly, something that made Viola turn to Kara with wide and scared eyes.

"Stilly creepy, ain't ya?" Jayne remarked, his hand sliding to rest on the small of River's back. He knew that the others were hovering at the ship, ready to rush down the gangplank if they had to intervene. Zoe was still a sharp shot, and she had been just itching to gun something down proper. Mal hadn't liked the idea of landing in the heart of the Academy, thinking it was a trap. He would've loved to light the place afire and run for it. However, he hoped that it wouldn't be necessary.

The woman smiled at Jayne. "Part of the job description, dear."

He bristled at the remark. "I ain't your dear."

"You're dear to River, and she's the important one to me."

River shot Jayne a frustrated glance and looked back at the strange woman. Her face was smoothed into a mask of serenity. She gave a formal half bow, and extended her arm toward the three teens waiting anxiously. "I present my nieces, Viola Hunter and Kara Grady. I also present one of the former students, Ethan Devereaux."

The woman turned to the three teens and surveyed them critically. She stopped in front of Ethan, and looked at him from head to toe. "You were a former student?"

"I'm Ethan," he said, refusing to be cowed by her stare. He glared right back at her. "I was Third Level, Fifth Class. I instigated the riot that led to our entire class being confined. I got _questioned_ by one of those Specialists. Want to see the proof?" he challenged.

Her lips curled into a smile. "Oh, no. I believe you. Ferdinand would have wanted to strip you of your dignity, I'm sure." Her smile broadened at Ethan's start of surprise. Her head inclined slightly. "I am most pleased that you would return here. An unbroken spirit is a wonderful thing, and something that would definitely be nurtured in the Officer track. I do hope the school meets your expectations."

She moved in front of Viola. She circled the girl, who kept her head high and tried not to tremble from her nerves. "Charming. Studious. Honorable. Not the type to be at the front lines or giving command, I should think. Research, most likely. Reading everything in sight without a particular focus, one that enjoys knowledge for its own sake. I suspect you're one that could cheerfully walk through a mine field if there was a rare piece of knowledge on the other side, regardless of what it was about. I'll put you into the straight Academics track, and you can pick your specialty once you have a preference."

She moved to Kara, whose jaw was clenched tight. She stared straight ahead, not bothering to meet the strange woman's eyes. "Ah. A soldier's stance. The ability to create a facade and not falter. You killed Ferdinand." Kara met her eyes, fiercely biting down on the inside of her lip to keep from screaming. "Oh, yes. I know. I don't fault you for it. It's quite all right, really. He deserved to die." She smiled, soft and slow, almost menacing. "Yes, the Security track would be the right one for you. We'll hone your guardian instincts into a sharp blade."

The strange woman with the catlike eyes walked back to River. Her movements carried an eerie grace, with subtle, precise movements. She beamed at River almost dreamily, her head tilted to the side. "Such wonderful students they'll be. So bright and eager to prove themselves. I accept all three with full scholarships."

"Guard them well, Corrine," River murmured.

The three teens stared at the strange woman, who grinned at River. "Of course, River. I've kept my promise to your brother. This is a school, with many different tracks of study. It's _only_ a school, and I've fought to keep it that way. The Alliance gives me wide berth now, so you don't have to worry after their safety." Corrine turned to the three teens with a smile and a half bow. Her smile seemed cold but genuine. "Welcome to the Academy for Advanced Learning. I hope we all meet each others' expectations."

***

"I don't like how we're in different places," Kara said stubbornly, chin jutting out. "We should have _some_ classes together."

"There's still the common dorms and the common areas," Viola said softly, curling her feet under her. They were sitting in her dorm room. For the moment, she didn't have a roommate, and the other bed contained all of her luggage.

Kara's room was across the hall. She had a roommate, a girl with a Greek last name and Asian eyes and hair. Kara had been polite, but hadn't wanted to try to get to know her. She had come into Viola's room as soon as she was able.

"Ain't the same," Kara declared. "Soon enough, you're runnin' off makin' new friends and taking all sorts of scary snobby classes and forgetting you ever got a dumb cousin like me."

Viola threw her arms around Kara. "Oh, I'd never do that! We're family."

Kara patted Viola's back awkwardly. "Yeah, but just saying. It could happen."

"Well, we're just going to have to work hard to see that it doesn't." Viola smiled at Kara. "D'you know where Ethan's room is?"

"Downstairs," Kara answered promptly. She could have kicked herself for looking like she was desperate. Or that she liked him, one of the two.

"We should go visit, see if he's settling in okay. See if he's got a roommate like you do."

"I don't know if I'll like her."

"Why?"

"I dunno. Just don't."

Viola smiled gently at Kara. "We still got each other, don't we?"

"Well, sure," Kara replied, rolling her eyes. "Didn't I make it clear when I damn near popped your sister in the face after Caro's shower?"

"You did? What for?"

"She was saying that we was gonna get ourselves shot, that's all. She was scaring Abby to death, and I couldn't let her do that."

Viola shook her head. "I didn't know she did that."

"Oh." Kara looked away, then shrugged. "Oh, well. Anyway, it looked like she made up before we all got out here."

"Something like that," Viola murmured. "You gonna tell your roomie that you get nightmares?"

Kara pulled a face. "I prob'ly got to. Otherwise she'll find out the hard way when I scream my head off halfway through the night."

"It should get easier, right?"

"I guess so," Kara murmured, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "It's always hard in the beginning of things. Like you don't know where to step, what to look like, where you gotta be and what people want from you." She bit her lip uncertainly. "It's... You know what?" she asked, looking brighter all of a sudden.

"What?"

"It's the first summer I was at the Yarbrook fair. They didn't know what they wanted from me, didn't know what to expect. And I blew them all away. They don't know how smart you are. They don't know you got me to knock 'em down if they make smart comments in class. And you got Ethan, too, right? C'mon, let's go get him. They alternated dorm floors, so he's downstairs."

"You'd knock down people for me?" Viola asked in wonder, allowing Kara to pull her out of the room and down the hall.

"Well, sure. And wouldn't you try to do the same for me?"

Viola grinned. "Of course. I'd mess my knuckles up something bad, but it'd be worth it."

"Well, there ya go. Here's the stairs."

"How'd you know where everything was so quick?"

"You gotta pay attention," Kara explained with a sigh of impatience. She didn't see Viola's grin when she sighed. "Know where all the exits are, know where all the important people are. It's the first thing about being in a strange place, didn't you know that? Gosh, some things you gotta learn people."

They knocked on Ethan's door, and he opened it right away. He didn't have a roommate, though there were plenty of boys his own age in his area of the dorm. He immediately wrapped them both up in a large bear hug. "What took you two so long?"

"I got a girly roomie," Kara said, annoyed. "She wants to cut my hair and put makeup on my face and everything."

Ethan pulled back and tugged on a lock of Kara's unruly hair. "Yeah? I'd pay money to see that happen. Sounds like a brave girl. What's her name again? Maybe we should meet her before you kill her."

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Kara muttered, sticking out her tongue. She plopped down on Ethan's bed and looked around the room. "Hey, nice digs."

"They're nicer when you're here," Ethan replied, leaning against his desk by the window. He laughed when Kara flushed in embarrassment. He turned to Viola. "How about you? Do you have a roommate?"

Viola shook her head. "Not yet. The RA said that I'm scheduled to get one next week, just before the term starts."

"I'm roomie-less for the entire term," Ethan boasted. He grinned at the two girls. "It wasn't that bad a first day, I guess. The guys next door were nice enough and helped me move in. They're on the Officer track, too. I think they group up where the rooms are."

"We're across from each other," Viola said, looking at Kara.

"Shelley's an Academic track girl."

"Hey! Maybe I'll have classes with her!" Viola chirped happily. "So we'll get to spend time together after all."

"You know," Kara began slowly, looking up. "I think we got put where we'd be the most comfortable, where we'd make the most friends."

"You think so?" Viola asked, eyes wide. She sank down next to Kara. "Think it's bad?"

"I think they owe us," Ethan said. He crossed his arms over his chest. "After all they've done so far, the least they could do is match us up with good people to know."

"Well, I don't know any classmates yet," Kara said, brows furrowed. "I don't like that."

"We'll check the other rooms in the hall, then. We'll just say we're being friendly," Viola said, smiling at Kara. "You'll have to lie, of course," she teased.

Kara launched herself at Viola, and Ethan shook his head, laughing. He looked up when the door to his bathroom opened. The bathroom was a shared one, between his room and one of his neighbors' rooms. All of the dorm rooms were set up that way. "Oh, hey. Damien. This is Vi and Kara, the two I told you about." Ethan turned to Viola, who was straightening out her blouse, and Kara, who was staring openly.

Damien was fairly tanned, with dark black hair and vivid green eyes. He was taller than Ethan, and wiry. He looked like a runner, or perhaps a swimmer. He looked at the two girls. "Let me guess," he said, his voice carrying a clipped accent. "Miss Viola has glasses, you said." He smiled as Viola self-consciously pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "So this other one must be Miss Kara."

"Just Kara's fine. I'm gonna be in the Security track."

"Oh. Justin and Arthur across the hall are in it. I could introduce you, and they can tell you about the teachers. They met them during orientation two weeks ago." He caught the pointed look Kara shot Ethan. "What?" He looked at Ethan with an eyebrow raised. "I know I haven't got anything stuck in my teeth. I just brushed them."

Viola stood up, a silly smile on her face. She stuck her hand out and her smile widened when Damien took it. "We were just saying how our rooms are set up so we're meeting lots of nice people that might be in our classes."

"Well, sure. There's no set area for any of the tracks. We're kind of all mixed together, so we bump into each other all the time. I'd think that the only time we really segregate out are during classes or at the library during exams." He reluctantly let go of Viola's hand. "Well, I wanted to let you know the bathroom's free if you needed it."

"Thanks," Ethan said with a nod.

"Nice to meet you," Kara called out as Damien disappeared back through the bathroom door. She leaned back slightly on Ethan's bed and looked around the room a bit more. "Huh. Shared bathrooms? I didn't even notice that. I just ducked out of my room right quick. I never shared a room with anybody before. Gramma just let me stay in my little room, and piled all the other girls in the other rooms. And back in Yarbrook, I had my own room." She looked at the two of them, suddenly horrified. "What if she snores?"

"I think we'll be okay," Viola said with a bright smile, sitting back down on Ethan's bed. "I got this feeling now."

"Does it have anything to do with a cute Officer?" Kara asked, eyebrows wagging at Viola suggestively. She dissolved into giggles.

Viola turned beet red. "No!"

Ethan burst into embarrassed laughter. The other two looked at him in wonder. "And to think we were all nervous before we got here!"

"We should send a wave back," Viola said, voice firm. "We should let everyone know that it's not bad here, and we're doing okay. They won't have to worry, and maybe one or two others will change their minds and come back."

"They'll have to get past the creepy new Director," Kara intoned.

"Well, I think she put us in the right places," Ethan said slowly. "Somehow she knew our strengths, and put us in the programs that would develop it most. Maybe this time it'll actually work, and it'll be a real school."

Viola bit her lip. "I hope so. I got Vicky all mad at me. I'd hate to think it was for nothing."

Ethan shook his head. "I don't think it was for nothing."

"Okay, then," Kara said, jumping to her feet. She stuck out her hand. "Let's make a promise, then. We're going to stick together, no matter what. We're gonna make it work out right, even if we have to bust up some heads."

Viola got to her feet with a smile on her face. She covered Kara's hand with her own. "I'm in."

Ethan shook his head. "Silly girl. I already told you I'm in," he said, covering both of their hands with his. "Now, who remembers where the cafeteria is? I know it's late, but I'm hungry. They said the caf is open twenty-four hours, right?"

"I know where everything is," Kara boasted. _"Someone_ had to pay attention."

Ethan bowed gallantly. "Lead the way, my dear. Wherever you go, I follow."

Flushing uncomfortably, Kara snorted. "You're gonna get popped in the face someday."

"You keep promising me that, you know."

"Careful, I just might do it," she warned, opening Ethan's door to the hallway. "Now, c'mon. Now that you mention it, I could use some taro tea."

"I like this kind of adventure," Viola said, following Kara into the hallway. "The last one was just awful." She looked at Ethan. "Well, sorry, but it was."

He shrugged. "I thought so, too, so no harm done."

They disappeared down into the maze of corridors, heading for the cafeteria.

They were going to be all right, they were sure of it.

 

The End.


End file.
